Nanocomposite in Sensor Application

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Ivy Union Publishing | http: //www.ivyunion.org August 30, 2019 | Volume 3, Issue 1 Kausar A. American Journal of Applied Physics 2019, 3:1-8 Page 1 of 8

Nanocomposite in Sensor Application

Ayesha Kausar*

Nanosciences Division, National Center For Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University Campus,

Islamabad, Pakistan

Review

Keywords: Polymer; nanocomposite; potential; biosensor; pH

Received: August 14, 2019; Accepted: August 28 2019; Published: August 30, 2019 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Copyright: 2019 Kausar A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

*Correspondence to: Ayesha Kausar, Nanosciences Division, National Center For Physics,

Quaid-i-Azam University Campus, Islamabad, Pakistan

Email: [email protected] Abstract

Polymeric nanocomposites have extended wide interest in applied sensor technology. Nanocomposite-based sensors have been developed to offer unique potential for varied purposes. Various polymers have been employed in this regard. Sensing polymeric nanocomposites have been used in wide variety of sensors such as gas sensor, biosensor, temperature sensor, pH sensor, etc. The article summarizes polymeric nanocomposite-based sensors, types, current status, and advantages in advance technical fields.

American Journal of Applied Physics

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1. Introduction

Polymers have advantageous features to design various technical sensors. Polymeric materials including nanocomposites may change their physical and chemical properties under the influence of external stimuli such as temperature, pH, mechanical stress, electric and magnetic field, light, and radiations [1-5]. Smart polymeric materials such as film, gel, solution, membrane, etc. have been used as sensors. Hence, polymeric nanocomposites have been used to form temperature sensor, pH sensor, stress sensor, light sensor, gas sensor, biosensor, etc. [6-11]. Biosensors must have ease of processing, structural stability, and biocompatibility for biosystems. Both the conducting and non-conducting polymers have been employed in sensor devices [12]. These polymers have been reinforced with nanofillers to form sensing nanocomposites. The nanoparticles in polymeric nanocomposites offer high surface area-to-volume ratio and large sensor-environment interface for sensing applications [13-21]. Better selectivity and rapid measurement can be achieved by modifying polymers and nanofillers in the sensing nanocomposites. Sensing mechanisms involved in polymeric nanocomposites-based sensor devices need to be analyzed. This paper essentially focus the polymeric nanocomposites for sensor applications including their type, properties, and applications.

2. Sensing effect in polymeric nanocomposite

Sensor is a device structure that can be used to measure the changes in the desired properties. The polymeric nanocomposite-based sensors have been developed using polymer films, electrodes, membranes, etc. In the case of insulating thermoplastic polymers, conductive nanofillers may create electrical conductivity and percolation effects. The conducting nanofillers may form electrically conducting paths with in the polymer matrix. The change in resistivity as a function of nanofiller concentration is important to understand. The environmental effects such as deformation, temperature, vapors, humidity, pH, moisture, etc. may cause change in resistivity of sensors [22, 23]. The conducting nanofillers have been used in polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene oxide, polyesters, vinyl polymers, polyurethane, polyimides, pyridine, epoxies, and acrylics for sensor applications [24-40]. These polymers have been successfully used in gas sensors, humidity sensors, thermistors, piezoresistive pressure sensors, etc. Table 1 shows matrices, additives, and sensing effects of various polymeric nanocomposites.

Table 1 Summary of important polymers with sensing effects and additives for various sensor types.

Polymer Nanofiller Sensor

Poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl alcohol), polyethylene, polylactic acid, poly(methyl methacrylate)

Polymer nanoparticles, nanocarbon

Biosensor

Polyurethane, polyethylene glycol, polydimethyl sulfoxide, polystyrene, polyimide

Functional nanoparticles Chemical sensor, IR sensor

Polyurethane, poly(vinyl alcohol), polyethylene, Polymer nanoparticles, nanocarbon

Mechanical sensor, chemical sensor

Polyimide, poly(vinyl acetate), Metal nanoparticles Mechanical sensor

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3. Types of nanocomposite sensors

Various types of nanocomposite sensors have been developed using polymers and appropriate additives (Table 2). Conductive polymers and thermoplastics such as poly(vinyl chloride) and poly(methyl methacrylate) have found their application in gas sensors. The presence of gas in the environment may be detected using potential electrodes based on conducting polymeric nanocomposites. The active functional groups in nanocomposite structure may also be used to detect gases (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Gas sensing mechanism

Table 2 Properties anf appications of different polymeric sensors.

Polymer Properties Application

Polyaniline NH3, NO2, moisture Gas sensor

Poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinyl acetate) Stability, fast response Glucose sensor

Polyurethane, poly(vinyl alcohol) Rapid response Chemical sensor (urine

analysis)

Polyaniline, polypyrrole Electrochemical control Glucose sensor

Polyesters H2O2 Gas sensor

Polystyrene Piezoelectric effect Chemical sensor, gas sensor

Poly(methylmethacrylate), polydimethyl sulfoxide, block copolymers

Metal nanoparticle detection

Ion sensor

All hydrophobic polymers Detection of water

pollutants

Chemical sensor

Temperature sensors have also been developed using polymeric nanocomposites. The appropriate selection of materials is important for sensor design and to detect slight temperature changes in the environment (Fig. 2). For temperature sensors such as thermometers, polymers such as N-isopropylacrylamide, N-propylacrylamide, copolymers, and related materials have been used. Usually polymer solutions of high molecular weight are used [41-50]. Thermosensitive copolymers have found great potential for these sensors. The pH sensors have shown both pH control and measurements. Polyaniline is used as a suitable pH sensing material. The poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(acrylic acid) have also been used as pH sensing material in aqueous media. pH sensors have also

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been developed with polymer gels.

Fig. 2 Temperature sensor

The swelling changes may indicate the increase or decrease of pH. Biosensors may contain bioreceptor and polymer sensor. The biosensor may convert the biological reactions into an electrical signal, which can be recorded. Biosensors have found great potential in biomedical, diagnostics, and environmental pollution control. The design of a biosensor is illisstrated in Fig. 3.

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The environmnetal products may diffuse into sensor to cause changes in electrical features and generate detectable signal. Optical sensors represent response towards the changes of light propagation, absorption or emission properties in the sensing polymer films. This may produce an optical output signal. Stress sensors may generate differences in electrical resistance to produce a measurable electric impulse. Polymeric nanocomposites may act as conductive components in ion sensors. The ion exchange in the system may result in an electrical signal i.e. recorded. Sensors based on ion-selective electrodes have also been developed. The sensors developed form polyurethane, poly(vinyl chloride), and silicone rubber have been used as ion-selective membranes [51-54].

4. Sensor applications

The importance of sensor effect on material detection and properties is important [55, 56]. For food quality, sensors may lead to reasonable source of information. The polymeric nanocomposite sensors are state-of-the-art invention for smart packaging. Such packaging allows the identification of conditions inside the package. The most common sensors employed in smart packaging are gas sensors and temperature devices. For example, carbon dioxide released during food spoilage, volatile amines, and other gases can be monitored. The microbiological quality of products can also be analyzed. Luminescent and colorimetric sensors have also been developed for oxygen monitoring. The pigmented sensors have also been developed, which are sensitive to changes in UV radiation. Temperature sensors are helpful to study physicochemical changes dependent on temperature values. The pH sensors can detect hydrolysis variations and show decrease in solution pH and change in color. Biosensors still need development to be employed in packaging and other technical uses. The nanocomposite sensors have also gained importance in smart textiles and electronic devices.

5. Conclusion

Developments have been observed in the case of conducting polymer-based sensors. The polymers may well act as sensors via incorporating additives or through appropriate modification. The conductive polymeric nanocomposites have capability of transmitting electrical/sensing signal due to change of environment such as gas, pH, electricity, temperature, etc. In this regard, research has focused the development of new materials for emergent gas sensors, temperature sensors, stress sensors, pH sensors, and ion-selective. Furthermore, tremendous amount of efforts are needed to understand the mechanism of sensor action.

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